The University of Salford is collaborating with Greater Manchester-based charity, Oldham Personal Advocacy Limited (OPAL), on a two-year knowledge transfer partnership aimed at driving digital transformation within the organisation.
With the help of university researchers and Innovate UK, the vision of the partnership is to develop and embed a digital transformation management system to improve the operations of OPAL, a charity that supports people with learning disabilities and autism.
This collaboration hopes to enable OPAL to improve its response time, scale-up and increase capacity to support more service-users and target harder to reach groups.
Over the next five years, the outcomes are expected to generate over £660,000 additional income, while driving additional revenue in excess of £260,000 annually at the end of the five years.
Michelle Anderson, chief executive of OPAL, said that this partnership represents a “significant step forward” for the organisation. “Until recently, we relied on paper-based processes for managing service user information and operations,” she said.
“Moving towards a digital system has been a big cultural shift, and while nothing is changing overnight, it’s been important to us that our employees are part of that process every step of the way.
“Making sure everyone feels comfortable with the changes and receives the right, tailored training has been a priority.”
Dr Jonathan Lord, one of the lead researchers from the University of Salford, added: “Like many charities, OPAL has lacked the funding and expertise to modernise and digitalise its operations. A focus on simply ‘getting the job done’ has limited process development and reduced competitiveness with more automated service providers.
“This knowledge transfer partnership is transforming OPAL by streamlining operations, improving response times for vulnerable adults, and enhancing its ability to scale and reach hard-to-access communities.”
As part of the partnership, key transfer partnership associate Marc Harrison alongside the university’s team, has developed a business model canvas for the charity to provide a clear overview of how it creates and captures value.
This has enabled the charity to identify new revenue streams in excess of £125,000.
The university is also developing a personalised service user dashboard which will enable families and carers to track progress of service users through their ‘developmental journey’ – a digital record of activities and outcomes that evidences personal growth and impact.
Another opportunity reportedly being explored is the use of facial recognition systems to promote independence for visually impaired users, improving self-supporting skills and their autonomy in society and the world of work.
Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, also known as KTP, is a government-funded scheme connecting UK employers with academic researchers.
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